(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a working vehicle equipped with engine automatic stop device, comprising means for engaging and disengaging a clutch disposed in a transmission system from an engine to a power take-out shaft, and means for automatically stopping the engine in which a sitting sensor so spring-loaded as to push up a vertically movable seat when load applied to the seat becomes below a predetermined amount, is mechanically interlocked with engine stop means such that pushing-up of the sitting sensor causes the engine stop means to become operable to stop the engine.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In such working vehicle equipped with engine automatic stop device of the type above-mentioned, mechanical interlocking of the sitting sensor with the engine stop means may provide more reliable engine stop, as compared with electrical interlocking susceptible to troubles, such as an arrangement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,092.
However, a conventional arrangement in which the sitting sensor is mechanically interlocked all the time with the engine stop means, presents inconveniences described below.
It is desired to automatically stop the engine only when the operator buttocks completely leave the seat, for example, due to his unexpected fall from the working vehicle during its travelling with an attached working machine driven. There is actually a case where the engine is automatically stopped to suddenly stop the vehicle body when the operator buttocks slightly come up from the seat due to vibration or swing of the vehicle during its travelling on a rough field. Such stop is not only unfavorable in view of lowered working efficiency, but also involves a risk that the operator falls forward.
In this connection, the sitting sensor is generally so constructed as not to sense slight push-up of the seat, but to become operable to actuate the engine stop means only when the seat is pushed up to a position too high to be sit thereon. Accordingly, when the sitting sensor is interlocked all the time with the engine stop means as conventionally done, the seat is located at a high position when the operator intends to sit thereon, because the seat normally remains as pushed up by the sitting sensor as far as the operator buttocks are not placed on the seat. On the other hand, when the operator intends to get up from the seat, the seat is pushed up to force up the operator buttocks as the operator raises his buttocks. Thus, such conventional interlocking causes inconvenience when the operator sits on and gets up from the seat.